NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nolensville city officials face censure or possible termination following an ethics review into a ticket-fixing scandal.
Citizens have filed complaints over the last two years, which led the city to launch an internal investigation into Police Chief Roddy Parker, along with Commissioner Lisa Garramone and Vice Mayor Wendy Cook-Mucci.
As a result, the town hired an attorney to review three videos of traffic stops for both Garramone and Cook-Mucci in 2020. The 10-page report, written by attorney Charles Michels, details how both commissioners and Chief Parker violated the town’s ethics policy by either altering tickets or accepting the nullified citations.
“It is very disappointing that these incidents occurred. However, it is important that the Town acknowledge these incidents occurred and assure the residents that steps have already been taken to prohibit such actions from occurring in the future," Nolensville officials said in response.
On June 2, 2020, a video of the vice mayor showed an officer handing her a citation for running a stop sign. We hear the officer tell Cook-Mucci he had to write her a ticket after several complaints from neighbors about drivers failing to stop.
According to the ethics report, “nothing from the video gives any indication that the citation was actually a warning. When the citation is handed to Commissioner Cook-Mucci it does not include the word ‘warning.’ The Town’s copy of the citation includes a court date but is unsigned and has the word ‘warning’ written at the top and bottom of the citation.”
Neither Vice Mayor Cook-Mucci, Chief Parker nor the officer from the traffic stop could recall if the citation was indeed only a warning.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates talked with Cook-Mucci over the phone, and she said, “I remember getting pulled over, but there was never a conversation with Chief Parker where he said 'I’m going to make this ticket go away.' That did not happen.”
Still, it wasn't until Commissioner Lisa Garramone’s traffic stop on Dec. 11 of that year that it became clear to the attorney hired to review the case that officers were writing tickets and altering them after the fact.
Garramone was stopped for driving 53 mph in a 30 mph zone. The next few minutes were routine until the officer asked Garramone where she was traveling from.
On the police video, NewsChannel 5 Investigates hears Garramone tell the officer she was just hanging out with Chief Parker at a local function. It was faint but clear enough for the officer to hear Garramone namedrop his boss.
The officer returned to his car and told his partner about Garramone meeting Chief Parker. That’s when the partner realized the person they had just pulled over was a city commissioner.
“Oh my God,” the officer said, having already written the ticket. The same officer is heard saying, “Chief will be calling. We’re going to have to void this out.”
After some back and forth, officers realized they had both been contacted by Chief Parker over high-profile traffic stops.
They agreed to write Garramone a ticket anyway, with the understanding that the chief would take care of the rest.
We know that Chief Parker pulled Garramone’s ticket days later; the word “void” would be scrawled across the front.
Back in the squad car, we heard one officer ask on the video if Garramone had been drinking. The officer is heard saying, “Todd said yeah, she’s the one who showed up on one of their calls drunk.”
Two months before Garramone’s traffic stop, Nolensville police responded to a car stuck in a ditch.
Garramone is now suing four people, including those who filed public records requests for body camera footage of the incident. She claims the defendants have spread lies about what happened that night. Her lawsuit says she was drinking at a friend’s party, but it claims someone else was driving her car when they left for a quick store run.
They came back to find a car stuck in a driveway on the way back to the party.
Garramone says she was concerned that someone from the party had been involved in an accident, so she asked the driver to stop the car.
In the police video, NewsChannel 5 Investigates sees Garramone walk toward officers from the driver’s side of the car, but we can’t tell if she left from the driver’s seat.
A couple of minutes go by, and then we see that even the driver of the wrecked car was confused as to why Garramone was there.
“I’m just curious because I’m the commissioner,” Garramone told the driver.
We do see someone leave Garramone’s car — but from the passenger side. When Garramone returned to her car, she had to ask the cops where her friend went.
Officers said he had left heading back toward the party, so once again Garramone walks back to the driver’s side of her car before leaving.
We then hear one officer say, “Commissioner or not, tell Chief next time her a** is drinking and driving, I’m arresting her.”
Officers later said they never actually saw Garramone climb in the driver’s seat or smelled any alcohol.
NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Nick Leonardo said Garramone’s very presence still didn’t make much sense.
Leonardo said what he’s heard so far could qualify as official misconduct or even tampering with official government documents. He said either violation could be a felony depending on the severity of the situation.
“The fact that you have a police chief who is giving special treatment or favorable treatment to elected officials who are in charge of his budget is very problematic,” Leonardo said.
Chief Parker told attorneys he doesn’t remember voiding any recent citations other than Garramone’s ticket. When asked why he did it, the 40-year law enforcement veteran said he believed he had the authority to do so. Plus, the town just moved past a contentious election.
According to the ethics review, “Chief Parker wanted to avoid another issue arising within the Town that could cause additional friction, in this case, a recently elected commissioner receiving a speeding ticket and thereafter having a negative view of Town staff including the police department. Chief Parker believes what is good for the police department is good for the Town and vice versa.
“A person might reasonably interpret all this as being intended to influence someone in their position of commissioner."
“Several months before the incidents came to light, the Town changed the ticket issuance process. The new process, used since April 2021, eliminates the possibility of ‘ticket-fixing’ by having officers issue their tickets electronically to the court system where any changes must be documented with the judge," city officials said to NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Commissioner Garramone kept relatively quiet at the Oct. 24 commissioners' meeting, while Vice Mayor Cook-Mucci tried to set the record straight.
“I have never once in a pullover stopped, said 'I’m a commissioner,' or 'I’m the vice mayor.' I’ve never hinted at trying to get some sort of favor or that kind of thing,” Cook-Mucci said.
Charles Michels, the attorney hired to review the situation, ultimately found that Chief Parker violated the ticket-fixing statute by voiding/modifying Commissioner Garramone's and potentially Commissioner Cook-Mucci’s citations. Michels pointed out that the statute of limitations for that offense is one year, so Parker likely won’t face any criminal charges.
The report found all three parties violated the town’s ethics policy because regardless of if they knew what was happening, they all accepted the outcome.
Cook-Mucci says she can’t remember if it was a warning or not; either way, she never paid the citation.
Garramone eventually paid her ticket almost a year later, and only days after the public records request was filed for the body camera footage.
The commission is set to vote this week on whether they want an outside agency to investigate any further.
Leonardo said calling in-state investigators is the best way for the city to show full transparency.
“If they didn’t show up on the date for court like every other red-blooded American has to do when they have a traffic ticket, then clearly they were tipped off, and clearly they’re part of a process that strikes at the integrity of the system,” Leonardo said.
Cook-Mucci told us she’s open to an outside investigation, even knowing her actions are in question. She said she’s prepared to step down if the independent investigation finds she was in the wrong. It's worth noting that Cook-Mucci is not running for re-election.
“If I need to step down, I will do it. I don’t want any decisions I make in upcoming meetings to be thrown out because I’m in this seat. If I did anything wrong, I’d rather step down than have these decisions have to be re-done later,” Cook-Mucci said.
City officials offered the following response when asked why people should trust Nolensville police to be fair and impartial:
“Outside of these two isolated occurrences, the Town Administration has never been informed of incidents equating to impartiality between any segment of our residents. In fact, the Nolensville Police Department is often complimented on its handling of situations in a fair and sensible manner. It will be incumbent on all employees across all departments to perform transparently so that faith in impartiality can be restored.”
The ethics review found no evidence to suggest Chief Parker and/or the Nolensville PD violated any duties to investigate a suspected crime or other provisions of the Town’s ethics policy.
Michels found there was also no convincing evidence of public intoxication by Commissioner Garramone. The review states that Garramone is adamant she was not driving on Oct. 17 and will provide the identities of other passengers in the vehicle to confirm this.
Garramone told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that she has no plans of releasing any names, and that she won’t be commenting any more than she already has through her lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Chief Parker declined to comment.
Commissioners will meet Thursday and decide if an independent investigation is necessary.
